FBI Investigates Death of Pastor Charged with Sexual Assault
Olivia Munoz
Associated Press
San Diego Union Tribune
___________________
Porterville, California (US):
Federal authorities tried to determine whether a clergyman awaiting trial on charges of raping two teenage sisters fell, jumped or was pushed when he plunged 400 feet to his death in Sequoia National Park.
The Rev. Santos Teixeira, 54, plunged from a 1,500-foot granite dome known as Moro Rock, landing on a ledge. His body was discovered after one of his parishioners reported the death, said park spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet.
The death happened on Sunday under "uncertain circumstances" and on federal land, so the FBI was called in to join the National Park Service investigation. Teixeira was the pastor of Iglesia Del Nazareno, a Protestant church in Porterville.
He was scheduled for trial in December on charges of raping two sisters who attended his church. Prosecutors said Teixeira, who had been pastor of the church for eight years, befriended the girls and their mother shortly after the family moved to the area from Mexico. Authorities questioned Teixeira's friends and family members, including a 25-year-old parishioner who was with him at the time of his fall. Picavet would not identify the man or say whether he was a suspect.
Nov 23, 2005
Olivia Munoz
Associated Press
San Diego Union Tribune
___________________
Porterville, California (US):
Federal authorities tried to determine whether a clergyman awaiting trial on charges of raping two teenage sisters fell, jumped or was pushed when he plunged 400 feet to his death in Sequoia National Park.
The Rev. Santos Teixeira, 54, plunged from a 1,500-foot granite dome known as Moro Rock, landing on a ledge. His body was discovered after one of his parishioners reported the death, said park spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet.
The death happened on Sunday under "uncertain circumstances" and on federal land, so the FBI was called in to join the National Park Service investigation. Teixeira was the pastor of Iglesia Del Nazareno, a Protestant church in Porterville.
He was scheduled for trial in December on charges of raping two sisters who attended his church. Prosecutors said Teixeira, who had been pastor of the church for eight years, befriended the girls and their mother shortly after the family moved to the area from Mexico. Authorities questioned Teixeira's friends and family members, including a 25-year-old parishioner who was with him at the time of his fall. Picavet would not identify the man or say whether he was a suspect.
Nov 23, 2005
